Around here

Around here we are in Week 4 of the school term and I can't believe it's August already which means it's only 6 weeks until my birthday on the 15th September.

My sister from Perth has booked a trip to visit us early October so we are looking forward to that.  She was last here December 2020 when there was a time Queensland let residents in from WA.  She ended up having to quarantine at home for 2 weeks when she got back because Queensland ended up having Covid cases here whereas we only quarantined I think for 3 days.  I was going to go to Perth mid September for my Birthday and use my airline credit from April 2020 [beginning of the Pandemic and my Niece's wedding was cancelled 3 weeks out and I wanted a refund but was only offered a credit]. 

In June I waited on the company's chat on my computer for 2 hours with a stupid bot telling me every 15 minutes that my call was important.  Then after 2 hours it says if you are not flying in the next 24 hours don't talk to us and that was the end of the call.  The customer service is totally disgraceful and they don't care about you as the consumer.  After waiting for 2 hours it said you can use your credit but you need to call us all of which could have been mentioned a the start of the chat, yes 2 hours earlier.

I attempted two days in a row and basically gave up.  The whole airline industry and them keeping our money is outrageous.  Mine is only $600 however I should have been refunded that 2.5 years ago and have that money sitting in my account so I could book another ticket if and when we could travel.  If I find a cheaper flight I can't use the credit or you loose the lot.  My friends have more money tied up in credit with an airline and have equally distressing stories of them refusing to refund the money and they make it so hard to use the credit as well.  Anyway that's enough about my attempt to fly to Perth in September.  I think the credit is due to expire at the end of this year so I will need an extension which may take another 2 hour phone call or more.  Unfortunately I booked through a third party Webjet and I would never ever do that again, I would book directly with the airlines as Qantas would have issued me a refund because the flight was cancelled altogether.  It had been 7 years since I had been on a plane so I just jumped onto the comparison site and booked it.  Mind you, had there not been a once in a lifetime Pandemic I would have been on the plane and my Niece would have been married and this wouldn't have been a problem however lesson learned, check prices and then only book directly through the airline.

I had some very sad news that my friend of 30 years passed away two weeks ago. We are all in shock and it was only 7 weeks from when she fell ill to being in palliative care.  I raced up to the hospital to say goodbye to her however she had basically been unconscious the whole time but I'm so pleased I went up to the hospital but it still doesn't seem real.

I met her as she was a Beautician and lived in the same area as me.  We both bought and sold our houses at the same time and then we renovated our new to us houses.  We both had Thermomix's and and swapped recipes.  She knows of my whole family and I know of hers.  I saw her every fortnight and it was a big catch up on life and I got my nails done.  She was a friend first and beautician second and was such a kind person who did everything for everyone.

One minute she is perfectly fine and the next she is not and I'll never see her again.  Something was on TV the other night and I thought I must tell her and then I remembered she's not here.  She's only 4 years older than me and it was completely out of the blue.  Her funeral is tomorrow and it's going to be very difficult day and I'm not looking forward to it.  I know funerals are a celebration of life but honestly on the surface it doesn't feel like that because she should be here for another 20 years or more.

I did my Photo a Day [Project 365] in 2009 and got her to do one in 2010 and below is a photo she took of me for her photo a day project.  I was looking through my emails from her and came across it again.  She was also an amazing baker of cakes and cookies and at Christmas time I always ordered a Gingerbread Men for James, Sienna and I.  We will honour her this Christmas by making them ourselves although her icing skills are very professional and it was a hobby for her outside of her beauty clients.

Here's some other things that have been going on recently.  Family BBQ to our favourite place about 10 minutes from home and we love a wood fired BBQ.

Can you spot the Kookaburra in the tree.

Last week I made these great overnight oats for the kids which they loved.  I made 6 of them and it only took me less than 10 minutes and then they can have something ready to grab for breakfast.  My son has some early morning Uni days so these are perfect.  The recipe is from Nic from Simple Home Edit.  You can find her on IG here and she has some great time saving delicious family recipes.

This beautiful orange trumpet vine is starting to flower everywhere at the moment and this is on my side fence however in our neighbourhood there is lots of it over fences and walls and looks stunning.

I did my Soap Making Workshop with Carrie of Riverbell Cottage held at Vitalia in Brisbane.  I went to Carrie's home back in July 2021 and did a Homesteading Course with her and she gave me some of her wonderful Sourdough Starter.

I made a big batch of these biscuits using Rhonda's recipe from Down to Earth blog.  I confess I ate way too many of these because they were so delicious.